


The Sacrifice

by louisnights



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Louis Tomlinson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, No Smut, Omega Harry, Pining, Violence, or more like a happy open ending, there's some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 13:21:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19791730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisnights/pseuds/louisnights
Summary: It’s almost time to find out who Westgold’s yearly sacrifice will be. Louis is beyond nervous, and scared about his best friend. He doesn’t ever want to lose him, especially for some dumb yearly tradition. He’s always hated it. It’s always haunted his dreams ever since that day when he was twelve, when he was finally old enough to understand and see what the Sacrifice really was.Or every year the town of Westgold sacrifices an Omega to Coatlicue, the goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth.





	The Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry i suck at writing summaries and tagging stuff, just let me know if you want me to tag something and i will.

The first time Louis attended a sacrifice was when he was twelve years old. He will never forget how the Omega had just laid there, on the platform, submissive and pliant while the executioner stabbed them in the chest. He’s always known that he’d present as an alpha, but now that he knows for sure that he is, he wishes he weren’t.

He stares at Harry’s sleeping form next to him on the bed. His best friend. Harry presented as an Omega about two years back, way before Louis presented as an Alpha. Louis has always hated being such a late bloomer. But now that he can actually smell his best friend, he would never complain about it again. 

It’s almost time to find out who Westgold’s yearly sacrifice will be. Louis is beyond nervous, and scared about his best friend. He doesn’t ever want to lose him, especially for some dumb yearly tradition. He’s always hated it. It’s always haunted his dreams ever since that day when he was twelve, when he was finally old enough to understand and see what the Sacrifice really was.

Harry wakes up with a yawn, burrowing deeper into the covers. “Do we have to go?”

Louis nods sadly, not being able to control the urge to run his fingers through Harry’s hair. “Unfortunately, yes.”

Harry sighs deeply. He blinks tiredly. Louis knows he didn’t get much sleep last night, and he can understand why. Louis continues their yearly tradition of saying “It won’t be you.”

“You can’t know that,” Harry says in reply, as per their tradition. Louis hates it. Hates the fact that he might lose his best friend, the love of his life. He doesn’t want to lose him, especially not before he can tell him how much he truly loves him. The fact that every year, Harry’s name could be drawn and he would be sacrificed to Coatlicue, the goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth. 

Every year, the mayor, along with the town’s religious leader, would pick a random piece of paper out of a bowl which contained the name of every Omega in the small town of Westgold. The Omega would get a week of luxury before their ultimate death. The Sacrifice.

What a load of utter bullshit.

He can never say what he really thinks of everything. One of his best mates, Zayn, is currently stuck in prison, not allowed any visitors, just because he was brave enough to speak up at last years Sacrifice. Louis still has nightmares about it.

\---

Mayor Cornell stands proudly in front of the platform. Everyone knows this is his favorite part of the week of the Sacrifice. “Hello everyone. Welcome to the Sacrifice.”

The waits until the clapping has died down before speaking again. “This years Omega is very honored to make this beautiful and brave sacrifice for us, and we should all rejoice in her name.”

There’s a commotion as Zayn runs onto the stage, snatching the microphone out of Mayor Cornell’s hand. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves. She didn’t make the choice. She was forced! Why do you think the Omegas are always locked up for a whole week after their name is read? Or have you forgotten that most of them try to escape? You like to pretend this is all normal and for a good cause but this years Omega is literally crying and struggling while she’s being tied town on the platform, can’t you see? She doesn’t want to die! Fuck the crops! Fuck fertility! This is inhumane and we should all-”

Before he can continue, he’s tackled by two big alphas and roughly dragged off the stage. He manages to kick himself loose but before he can try and run away one of the alphas takes out his gun and shoots him in the leg. He falls down with a loud thud.

The guards drag him away, leaving a bloodtrail on the ground.  
\-----

Louis shakes himself out of his thoughts and takes a deep breath. He can’t think about this now. He has to remain calm, if not for himself then for Harry. Sweet, sweet Harry who’s clutching his hand so tightly. Harry, who’s almost out of his mind with worry about his name being drawn. Harry, who’s been comforting all the other Omegas his age and younger while he’s dying inside. Louis squeezes his hand back just as tightly. 

He tunes back in just in time for Mayor Cornell to finish his yearly speech. He doesn’t clap along with the crowd, he just tugs Harry into his side. They can get through this. They’ve been fine the last two years. Harry will be okay.

He holds his breath as he watches Cornell reach his hand into the bowl. He can’t breathe, just instinctively pulls Harry closer into his arms. Cornell reads the paper then yells the name out into the crowd with a smile, and Louis’ entire body goes cold. 

“Harry Edward Styles.”

The next thing he knows, Harry’s being ripped from his arms and dragged away with tears running down his face. Louis tries to run after him, but he’s being held back by someone’s arms. He can't tell who it is, can't tear his eyes away from Harry.

“No! No no no no no! DON’T TAKE HIM PLEASE DON’T. HARRY! BABY NO!”

As soon as Harry’s out of his line of sight, he falls onto his knees on the ground. His knees hurt with how hard they hit the ground. He barely feels it. He lets himself cry for a minute before he starts to regulate his breathing. He rubs the tears from his face. He feels his sister squeezing his shoulder in sympathy.

He needs to put his plan into motion. 

\----

Louis walks with renewed purpose into the secret cabin in the outskirts of town. It’s in the woods where nobody dares to go. Nobody knows about it, only him and Harry. And Zayn. It gives him a sick sort of satisfaction that not even the mayor knows this cabin exists.

He takes out his notebook, rifling through it until he finds the number he’s looking for. He grabs the phone that’s connected to the landline and calls it. He waits impatiently until the irish man on the other end answers.

“Hey, Niall,” Louis says, taking a deep breath. “It seems we have to use Plan B.”

Niall gasps quietly. “Fuck. Louis, I’m so sorry. He’ll arrive tomorrow morning at your cabin. 10 AM. it’ll be okay.”

“It’s easy for you to say,” Louis snaps. “The love of your life isn’t staring down at his death in a locked hotel room filled with luxurious food meant to fatten him up. Just send your guy here and you better hope this plan works or I will find you so I can kill you myself.”

“Understood, Louis,” Niall says. “See you on the other side.”

Louis sighs as he hangs up the phone. He decides to just get some sleep before the man who’s supposed to help them out of this mess shows up. This plan has to work. It just has to. It took Louis a whole year just to come up with it, and two to find the contacts he needed to execute it.

He should’ve just put Plan A in motion when he could.

\-----

When Louis wakes up, it’s to the smell of bacon wafting into his room. It makes him smile for a second before he remembers. That's not Harry cooking. He immediately grabs his pocket knife and runs into the kitchen. 

There’s a man wearing Harry’s pink apron, and an expensive black suit. His hair is brown, and slightly curly. When the man looks up, Louis notices a birthmark on his neck. He also notices the man doesn’t have any mate marks. He isn’t threatening, but Louis raises his knife nonetheless.

“Who the fuck are you?" Louis wiggles the knife in the man's general direction. "And what are you doing in my kitchen?”

The man puts the spatula down on the counter, smiling slightly. “I’m Mills. You can call me Logan, though, if you’d like. Louis, correct?”

Louis feels relieved and a little shocked that this is the man who professionally helps people in situations like his. He looks less threatening than an angry puppy. “You’re Mills?”

Logan nods as he plates some bacon next to the eggs he’d apparently already cooked. He sets the plate on the small kitchen table and gestures for him to sit. Louis does, but only because he’s hungry and he knows he needs the protein if he’s about to go through this whole week. He won’t really be okay until he has Harry in his arms again.

He regrets the fact that he’s never told Harry how he truly feels about him. That he’s in love with him. That whenever he goes through a rut, all he thinks about his Harry. That the reason he scents him every single time they cuddle is because he wants him to be his mate so much it's hurting.

And the worst part about all of this is the fact that he knows that Harry loves him too. But they’ve both been too scared to make the first move. If Louis can save him, then the first thing he’ll do is tell him how much he loves him. 

He doesn’t realise he’s crying until Logan pats him on the shoulder. He nudges the plate closer to Louis, and he eats it even though he’s not hungry anymore. “I know he’s not dead yet, and we’re going to save him, but he doesn’t know that and he must be so scared.”

Logan nods in sympathy as he eats his own breakfast. “So, here’s the plan for today,” Logan begins. “I have my fake FBI ID. it’s legit, and nobody will question it. I’ll tell them I’m there to make sure this years Sacrifice follows the basic code of conduct. I’ll have access to the Chosen.”

“You’ll get to see him?” Louis asks. “Can you give him a message from me?”

Logan shakes his head in the negative and Louis lets out a growl. 

“We can’t tell him anything because it could jeopardize everything”

Louis doesn’t answer, just gestures for Logan to continue.

“As I was saying,” Logan says. “I am going to use the fake badge to scope out all the possible ways we can get Harry out. That takes a bit of time, and I know you want him out of there as soon as possible, but we have to err on the cautious side of things, otherwise this won’t work and he will die.”

Louis nods sadly, pushing his half full plate away. 

“Since you guys are roommates, it won’t be hard for you to pack a bag for him. You need to do that in the middle of the night, so tonight at 2AM, you’ll go home and you’ll pack lightly and meet me back here. Only take things that are necessary and cannot be replaced. Don’t get too sentimental”

“So only clothes?”

“Yes, only clothes and it’d probably be a good idea to pack some toiletries as well.”

Louis nods, and when Logan doesn’t say anything more, he leaves.

\-----

Louis’ been spending way too much time just packing. He knows he’s not supposed to pack anything more than one bag, but he ended up packing two. One backpack and Harry’s big gym bag. He only packed three of his own shirts, a hoodie, one pair of jeans and one pair of joggers, and then a bunch of underwear and his socks, all shoved into the backpack.

But Harry’s clothes.

Harry’s clothes mean a lot to him, and he has so many of them that he loves. He packs Harry’s favorite brown boots. He knows they probably count as a sentimental item, but in his mind it won’t be replaceable. Harry’s mum and sister got him those boots for his last birthday, and Louis is not about to let him lose them. He fills the bag with all of Harry’s favorite clothes, as tightly folded as can be so they can all fit.

He can barely fit the toiletries in there, but he manages somehow. He knows that as soon as Harry sees all of his rings, and his flowery comfort dress, and his golden silk shirt, that everything will be worth it. Everything he didn’t pack for himself will be worth it, for just one dimpled smile for his favourite person. 

He walks around the apartment one last time, just taking everything in. The framed pictures on the wall. Harry’s broken flower vase in the small living room. Gemma’s ugly painting on the wall in their bedroom that Harry had put there to prove some kind of point, Louis still doesn’t know.

He leaves their apartment with no regrets. Everything he’s ever wanted is no longer there, after all.

\-----

When he walks through the door of the cabin, it’s 4 AM. Logan sits at the kitchen table, reading through a book. He looks up at Louis, lifting an eyebrow. “Took you long enough.”

“You try doing this once,” Louis says, not kindly. “Leaving everything you’ve ever known. Then you’ll know what this feels like.”

Logan snorts, putting the book harshly onto the table. “I’ll have you know, Louis, that I do know what this feels like as I have done this before.”

Louis’ eyes snap up, and he blinks, just staring at the serious expression on Logan’s face. “You- what?”

Logan runs a hand through his hair, sighing. “My name’s not really Logan. That’s just the fake name I have to use to survive.”

“Who are you, then?” Louis sits down on the chair at the other side of the table, giving the other man his full attention. Logan just looks at him for a minute, as if considering his words. “Liam Payne.”

Louis blinks, his mouth hanging open. “You’re Liam Payne?”

“Yes,” Liam stands up from his seat. “Now shut up, get some sleep and let me save that omega of yours.” Then he just walks out of the room, leaving Louis sitting there in shock.

Liam is from the most conservative town in the country. Bayhedge. The Sacrifice is performed twice a year, instead of once a year. Six years ago, a Chosen, Liam Payne, had escaped from the hotel room he was being kept in. He hasn’t been heard from since then. Nobody knows how he managed to escape. The hotel room had been left in a right mess, there had been a dead alpha guard on the floor, stripped of his guard uniform. There had been blood everywhere.

Everyone in the country remembers that event, as Security for Chosens have become much tighter after that year. There hasn’t been any successful escapes since then.

Louis doesn’t know why Liam Payne of all people is helping him, but he couldn’t be more grateful. 

\-----

As soon as Liam comes into the kitchen the next day, Louis pushes him gently into a chair. “How can’t I smell you?”

“Isn’t that a bit rude?”

Louis ignores him, narrowing his eyes. “You’re an omega, and yet, I can’t smell you. How?”

Liam rolls his eyes. “You can’t smell me because I'm wearing suppressants.”

“Oh,” Louis says. “I thought those didn’t exist?”

“They do exist, obviously,” Liam answers. “They’re just especially hard to find.”

“And how do you get them?”

Liam sighs, clearly frustrated by Louis’ inquisition. “Niall makes them. Now let me eat so I can finish sucking up to your ugly alpha mayor.”

“Fine.”

\------

It has been five days since Harry was taken to the hotel and Louis is about to lose his mind.

Liam keeps telling him to stay calm. Be patient. But that’s hard when the love of his life is getting closer and closer to being sacrificed to a goddess he doesn’t even believe in.

He’s about to give up and steal Liam’s spare gun so he can just go and save Harry himself when the door to the cabin opens and Liam walks in. “It’s time. Get the car all ready, everything packed into the trunk and go stay in our selected meeting place. I’ll meet you there with Harry.”

And just like that, Louis feels like throwing up. But he does everything Liam told him to. 

\------

Louis is getting really worried that something might have gone wrong. It’s 11 PM. 

He’s been waiting for five hours. He’s done everything right in Liam’s plan. He parked the car in the right place, left the key in the ignition and he’s staying in the backseat in hiding as he waits. Just like Liam told him to.

But it’s been five fucking hours and Louis is so scared. He has no idea what he’ll do if the plan fails. Probably get caught by the authorities and killed.

He hopes that doesn’t happen.

\-----

It’s been seven hours. 

He’s been lying in the backseat, waiting and staring at the ceiling the whole time. His feet are numb from being the same position in such a cramped space for so long. He’s got a bad crick in his neck that he wishes he could fix.

He’s picking at a loose string in the seat with his left hand as he tries to stay calm. It’s not working very well, since his heart is hammering out of his chest. But, he’ll take any distraction he can get at this point.

\-----

He’s about to pass out from sheer exhaustion on the ninth hour when the door behind his head bursts open and Harry’s shoved inside. Louis scrambles to move back, making room for Harry as the door slams shut harshly behind him.

Liam opens the door on the driver’s side, points the gun behind him and shoots before getting into the car, slamming the door shut and driving as fast as the car can go. “Put on your seatbelt, boys, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

Harry’s staring into his lap, and he still hasn’t noticed Louis.

“Hazza,” Louis grabs his shoulder, pulling him into a tight hug, not caring about how much the car is jostling them about as Liam drives it like his life depends on it, which, it probably does.

“Louis,” Harry starts sobbing, shoving his nose onto Louis’ scent gland and inhaling deeply. Louis feels how wet his neck is from Harry’s tears. “Lou, I thought I was going to die.”

“I would never let that happen, baby,” Louis says, squeezing him tighter to his chest. “Ever. I love you so much, Haz.”

“I love you, too,” Harry sniffs. “So much.”

“We’re going to be okay, I promise, baby,” Louis whispers into Harry’s curls, inhaling the scent of him, finally feeling calm with the omega safely in his arms. He pulls back, cupping Harry’s face so he can get a good look at him. “Harry, you’re safe.”

Harry nods tearfully, a tentative smile forming. Louis doesn’t know who leans in first, but the next thing he knows they’re kissing, and he just knows that whatever happens after this, they’ll be okay, because Harry is finally safe, and they can be free, together.


End file.
